Defiberation apparatus for separating cellulosic fibrous material from refuse

ABSTRACT

A defiberation apparatus for separating the cellulosic fibrous material contained in refuse, particularly municipal refuse, and preparing it for conversion into pulp suitable for various paper product manufacturing purposes. The novel defiberation apparatus of this invention utilizes a plurality of water jets which impart a disintegrating and classifying action to the refuse and place the cellulosic fibers in a liquid suspension. This liquid suspension or slurry then passes through three hoppers in the defiberation apparatus wherein the non-cellulosic solids are removed on screw conveyors.

United States Patent Galeano [4 1 Aug. 1, 1972 [54] DEFIBERATION APPARA TUS. FOR 1,182,432 5/1916 Stobie ..241/39 X SEPARATING CELLULOSIC FIBROUS 3,113,733 12/1963 Carlson ..241/20 X MATERIAL FROM REFUSE 2,603,352 7/l952 .Tromp ..209/156 X 369,836 9/1887 Blackman ..24l/39 X 1 Invent se'gm Galem Ohm 1,277,737 9/1918 Lefebure ..241/21 [73] Assignee: Owens-Illinois, Inc.

F] 3 2 l 7 Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. [22] led June 0 Attorney-Alan J. Steger and E. J. Holler [21] Appl. No.: 42,783 1 v 57 ABSTRACT UQSI Cl. n t "241/21, A for Cl Bosh fibrous material contained in refuse particularly m [58] Field of Search ..24l/20,-2l, 38, 39, 46.02, nicipal refuse and preparing it for conversion into 241/4604 43; 209/156 pulp suitable for various paper product manufacturing 7 162 purposes. The novel defiberation apparatus of this invention utilizes a plurality of water jets which impart a [56] References cued I disintegrating and classifying action to the refuse and UNITED STATES PATENTS place the cellulosic fibers in a liquid suspension. This liquid suspension or slurry then passes through three x 3,549,092 12/1970 Baxter "241/4617 X non-cellulosic solids are removed on screw conveyors. 3,565,350 2/1971 Combs ..241/43 2,071,320 2/1937 Coberly ..209/ 156 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures DEFIBERATION APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING CELLULOSIC FIBROUS MATERIAL FROM REFUSE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is related to my concurrently filed U.S. Ser. No. 42,686 entitled System and Process for Recovery of Cellulosic Fibrous Material From Refuse which is assigned to the same Assignee as the subject invention, v

This invention relates to the recovery of cellulosic fibrous material from a municipal refuse.

More specifically, this invention relates to a unique 'defiberation apparatus for" separating cellulosic fibrous in the United States:

Plastics 1% Food Refuse 12% Sand, Dust 8% Glass 6% Ashes 4% Metal 8% Grass 14% Paper and Paper- 7 board 47% As can be seen from the preceding table, a large percentage of the v composition of a typical municipal refuse is paper and paperboard products formed from cellulosic fibrous materials. Unfortunately, a very small percentage of this cellulosic fiber is actually being salvaged. The salvage of cellulosic fiber from refuse is presently confined to hand sorting along a belt conveyor in composting plants or to the salvage of waste paper, newsprint, etc., at different points along the disposal path of theoriginal product. These methods are obviously very inefficient and expensive considering the small percentage er cellulosic fiber that is recovered.

The recovery of cellulosic fiber from municipal refuse is becoming more important as a substitution for the production of new cellulosic fiber directly from trees in our timberlands. As our population increases, the demand for and the usage of paper products will also increase thereby placing an unreasonable burden on the timberlands. Hence, there is a urgent need, both for the present and for the future, to provide a source of cellulosic fiber to supplement'the direct usage of timberlands to produce such fiber.

' a practical system and process for the recovery of cellulosic fibrous material from municipal refuse to supplement the ever-increasing demand for cellulosic fibersthat is being placed on our timberlands.

This invention features a unique defiberation apparatus which, in combination with a magnetic separator and vibrating screen, separates the cellulosic fiber from the remainder of the refuse. The defiberating apparatus of this invention utilizes a plurality of liquid dispensing jets which impart a disintegrating and c'lassi-' fying action to the refuse and place the cellulosic fibers into a slurry of one to two percent consistency. This slurry is then suitable to be used directly in a paper making operation or to be pressed and baled to product pulp for future paper making operations. The system of this invention is, therefore, well suited to be located adjacent to a paper mill to recover the cellulosic fiber from municipal refuse and process it for immediate use in the paper mill.

Thus, the unique defiberation apparatus of this invention is adapted to recover a major portion of the cellulosic fiber in municipal refuse to thereby supplement the tremendous demand for cellulosic fiber that is currently being experienced.

Other objects, features and advantages of the subject invention will become obvious to those skilled in the art to which it pertains upon reference to the following detailed description and the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiments thereof.

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is'a schematic view of the apparatus which comprises the recovery system of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the novel defiberation apparatus of the recovery system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view with parts broken away of the defiberation apparatus of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In generaLFlG. 1 shows a unique. cellulosic fiber recovery system indicated generally by the numeral 10.

In FIG. 1, the numeral 12 indicates the area in which the receptionof refuse from collection trucks at a municipal refuse disposal site takes place. This site could be a sanitary land fill, a dumping site, an incinerator plant, or a composting plant. The refuse which has been collected in the reception area 12 is transferred on a belt conveyor 1410' a grinder 16'. The grinder 16 may be of any suitable type such'as a chain mill, hammermill, or rasp-type grinder. In the grinder 16, the refuse is reduced to a size no larger than two to three inches in dimension. The ground refuse is then discharged from the grinder .16 onto a belt conveyor 18 and passed into a magnetic separator 20. In the magnetic separator 20, metal and other materials in the refuse which are subject to magnetic force are removed from the refuse and fed on belt conveyor 22 to a material'baler 24. The metal removed by the magnetic separator is baled by the baler 24 and deposited on a belt conveyor 26 for delivery to a suitable metal receiving station (not shown). Meanwhile, the remainder of the refuse, which has not been eliminated by the mag netic separator 20, is passed from the magnetic separator 20 onto a belt conveyor 28 and fed to a vibrating screen 30. The vibrating screen 30 is of a suitable type having three vibrating trays with varying size openings therein. It is suggested, for example, that the vibrating screen 30 include a first tray having one inch openings therein and a second tray having It-inch openings therein which will catch the cellulosic fiber and deposit it on a belt conveyor 32. The remainder of the refuse which has fallen through the openings in the first and second trays will be received by a third tray and fed onto the belt conveyor 34 which transports it to a waste material receiving vehicle 36. The waste receiving vehicle 36 may be any suitable waste transportion device, such as a dumping truck or, as shown here, a railroad flat car 38 on railroad tracks 40. The refuse including cellulosic fiber which has been caught by the first and second trays within the vibrating screen 30 and deposited on conveyor belt 32, is delivered to a primary defiberator 42.

The details of the primary defiberator 42 can best be seen by reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. It should be noted that the refuse has been kept in a dried state up until the time that it reaches the primary defiberator 42. The primary defiberator 42 is seen to comprise a large tank 44 which includes a refuse receiving well 46. A plurality of liquid jet nozzles 48 are mounted in the side walls of the well 46 to impinge liquid onto the refuse as it is dumped from conveyor belt 32 into the well 46. It should be noted that the nozzles 48 are located at varying points around the circumference of the well 46 and at different levels so as to form an aqueous curtain which contacts the incoming refuse. The jets of water emanating from the nozzles 48 serve to further disintegrate the refuse and precondition the cellulosic fiber material contained therein for the primary defiberating operation. Because of the constant addition of water through the nozzles 48 it can be seen in FIG. 2 that the water level in the primary defiberator 42 is maintained at a level indicated by the dash lines 50. The incoming refuse after being soaked with water from the nozzles 48 drops into the inlet channel 51 formed between the end wall 52 of the tank 44 and inlet barrier wall 54. A plurality of agitators 56 are mounted within the inlet channel 51 to further disintegrate and separate the incoming refuse. The bottom 58 of the inlet channel 51 is tapered so as to slant downwardly towards a first hopper 60. The heaviest particles in the refuse, which is introduced into the inlet channel 51, will settle immediately towards the first hopper 60 from which they will be transported out of the primary defiberator 42 by means of a screw conveyor 62. The remainder of the slurry flows into the main chamber 64. The main chamber 64 has its lower portion divided into second and third hoppers 66 and 68 by means of divider walls 70, 72, 74 and 76. The second and third hoppers 66 and 68 each have a screw conveyor 78 and 80, respectively, to collect and carry away the undesirable noncellulosic solids. Thus, as the slurry flows through the hoppers 60, 66 and 68 by means of the path shown by the arrows in FIG. 2, the majority of undesirable noncellulosic solids are removed from the slurry and transferred away from the primary defiberator 42. The cellulose material is kept in suspension in the slurry within chamber 64 by means of an adjustable weir 82. The resulting slurry spills over the adjustable weir 82 into an effluent channel 84. At the top of the main chamber 64 a floating layer of scum (e.g. leaves, grass, etc.) will be formed. A skimmer 86 is provided to gently collect this scum and deposit it into a sump 88. From the sump 88 the scum will be transported by means of a conveyor 90 to an incinerator 92.

The non-cellulose solids collected in and removed by the screw conveyors 62, 78 and 80 are fed to a pair of collecting conveyors 94 and 96 which in turn feed belt conveyors 98 and 100. The belt conveyors 98 and 100 transport the undesirable non-cellulose solid material to the railroad flat car 38 for removal from the processing site. The collection conveyors 94 and 96 are inclined so as to impart a dewatering action to the refuse being removed by emerging above the level of the slurry in the main tank 64 prior to depositing the refuse on the belt conveyors 98 and 100. It should be noted that the rejected refuse conveyed to the railroad flat car 38 from the vibrating screen 30 and the primary defiberator 42 could be treated to separate glass, metals, etc.

The resulting slurry is removed from the effluent channel 84 through pipes 102 which lead to a secondary defiberator 104. The secondary defiberator 104 in the system of this invention may be any suitable machine, several of which are available commercially. Such a device is available from the Black-Clawson Company, Middletown, Ohio 45042, under the trade name Hydropulper or from the Beloit Corporation, Beloit, Wis. 535l 1, under the trade name Barracuda. The type of machine that is used as the secondary defiberator 104 in this installation imparts a vortex action to the slurry and is used commercially at present to separate fibers from waste paper. In the vortex action of the secondary defiberator 104 the undesirable solid particles in the slurry (plastics, etc.) rise to the top of the secondary defiberator and are removed from the defiberator 104 and deposited on a conveyor 106, which transfers these undesirable particles to the conveyor on which they join the refuse removed by the skimmer 86 and are fed to the incinerator 92.

The remaining slurry, now containing only cellulose fibers, exits from the secondary defiberator 104 through a pipe 108 which carries the slurry to a stock chest 110. The disposition of the processed slurry being deposited in stock chest 110 will depend on whether the recovery system 10 of this invention is located adjacent to a paper mill or whether the resulting recovered slurry is to be processed and the fibers baled for shipment to a paper mill. For example, if the recovery system 10 is located adjacent to a paper mill (shown schematically as 112) the slurry contained in stock chest 110 will be fed, by means of the path indicated by arrow 114, to the paper mill 112. If baling of the resulting pulp rather than a finished paper product is desired, the conventional baling equipment such as a wet cylinder 116, presses 118, and baler must be provided. The pulp slurry in the stock chest 110 would then be fed to the wet cylinder 116 through a pipe 122 wherein it would be passed through a series of mesh screens to separate the cellulosic fibers from the water. The separated fibers are then passed on conveyor 124 to a series of presses 118 which compress the recovered fibers to remove water remaining therein. It should be noted that the water removed from the fibers in the wet cylinder 116 and the presses 118 may be cycled by means of path 126 back to the primary defiberator 42 and added to new refuse being processed through water jet nozzles 48. The resulting pressed fibers are removed from the presses 118 on conveyor 128 to the pulp baler 120 where they are baled for shipment to a paper mill.

Therefore, the unique cellulosic fiber recovery system 10 as shown in FIG. 1 is well suited to completely process a standard municipal refuse to recover therefrom a large percentage of the reuseable cellulosic fiber contained therein. It is further adapted to process this recovered cellulosic fiber for either direct delivery 5. to an adjacent paper mill or for processing to bale the recovered pulp for shippingto a paper mill. In the process of recovering thisreuseable cellulosic fiber the unique system of this invention also separates and bales all magnetically responsive materials (eg metals),and further separates for dumping all other solid materials contained therein. If so desired, this system 'will eliminate andincinerate. all other undesirable non-cellulosic materials from, the refuse being processed.

Thus, from the preceding explanation, it should be understood that it isthe novel primary defiberator 42 as disclosed by this invention and shown in detail in FIGS, 2 and3 which makes the total system as shown in FIG. 1 so successful.

What is claimed is:

l. Defibration apparatus for separating the cellulosic fibrous material contained in refuse comprising, in combination:

rectangular tank means for receiving said cellulosic fiber-containing refuse; I

liquid-dispensing means in said tank means for impinging liquid on said cellulosic fiber-containing refuse as it is deposited in said tank means to thereby form a slurry including said cellulosic fiber-containing refuse and said liquid in said tank means;

a plurality of hopper means formed in the bottom of said tank means for separating and removing the undesirable non-cellulosic material from the refuse-containing slurry in said tank means thereby leaving only cellulosic fibrous material in said slurry;

screw-conveyor means in each of said hopper means for removing said non-cellulosic material from said tank;

and adjustable means to control the flow of said cellulosic fiber-containing slurry from said tank means; 7 v I y 2. Defibration apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said liquid-dispensing means comprises a plurality of nozzles, positioned in the walls of said tank means.

'3, Defibration apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said adjustable means to control the flow of said cellulosic fiber-containing slurry from said tank means comprises an adjustable weir means positioned within means and an outlet means in a wall of saidtankrneans. I

4. Defibration apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further including skimmer means mounted adjacent the top of said tank means for removing undesirable noncellulosic matter from the surface of said slurry within said tank means.

5. The method of separating the cellulosic fibrous material contained in refuse, comprising the steps of:

depositing said cellulosic fiber-containing refuse in a tank; impinging liquid on said refuse as it is being deposited in said tank to thereby form a slurry including said cellulosic fiber-containing a refuse and said liquid in said tank; trapping undesirable non-cellulosic matter in collection hoppers formed in the bottom of said tank; removing said trapped non-cellulosic matter from skir r i n' r ig the surface of said slurry within said tank to remove all undesirable non-cellulosic matter therefrom;

and controlling the flow of said cellulosic fiber-containing slurry from said tank. 

2. Defibration apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said liquid-dispensing means comprises a plurality of nozzles positioned in the walls of said tank means.
 3. Defibration apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said adjustable means to control the flow of said cellulosic fiber-containing slurry from said tank means comprises an adjustable weir means positioned within said tank means and an outlet means in a wall of said tank means.
 4. Defibration apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further including skimmer means mounted adjacent the top of said tank means for removing undesirable non-cellulosic matter from the surface of said slurry within said tank means.
 5. The method of separating the cellulosic fibrous material contained in refuse, comprising the steps of: depositing said cellulosic fiber-containing refuse in a tank; impinging liquid on said refuse as it is being deposited in said tank to thereby form a slurry including said cellulosic fiber-containing a refuse and said liquid in said tank; trapping undesirable non-cellulosic matter in collection hoppers formed in the bottom of said tank; removing said trapped non-cellulosic matter from said tank; skimming the surface of said slurry within said tank to remove all undesirable non-cellulosic matter therefrom; and controlling the flow of said cellulosic fiber-containing slurry from said tank. 